How to create report (RDLC) without database?
Problem
When you create a report (RDLC) the datasource seems to be only this or that database. Is there any way to convince VS to establish a link to memory data source? Something similar to WPF databinding.
The issue is, I would like to create a report with just a few data (entered by user), the whole point is layout, I don't have massive amount of data. So installing DB, writing data to DB, and then fetching them just to show the report is huge overkill.
So, I am looking for ability to create a report from memory data.
Background
I would like to design a layout, add images, set styles, font colors, etc. and add no more than few parameters like "first name", "last name" (of user) and "text". User would enter those 3 values, get a flyer and print it X times. The layout has to be exact -- starting from paper size, the placement of images, size of fonts, etc.
Maybe there are better solutions than RDLC but it is built-in engine, and no matter how I search it always pops out in search results.
Answer
The datasource for an RDLC report can be anything that implements IEnumerable. If it is an enumeration of objects, then the properties on the object become fields in the report.
The thing about reports is they have their own internal notion of what the dataset is. At design time you need to provide the report designer with a dataset to work with. The report ingests that dataset internally and it is used to design the report. The reality is the report itself doesn't care about the actual dataset. It only cares about its schema. However, at runtime the objects you provide to satisfy that dataset can come from anywhere, as long as they satisfy that same schema.
I have a little blog post from back in my MS days that shows a trick on how to get good design time support, and then at runtime provide the report with any data you want: